Flip That House...Whose house? MY HOUSE!

So, I've been to the beach, yet again. I was able to go to Myrtle Beach for a week with my mom, dad, Ryan and Jordyn. We had a great time (pics at the end of this post) though I missed Jim very, very much (he was unable to go with us!). I have been home for a week now and I would have blogged sooner...but when I returned from vacation I had the surprise of my life awaiting me!!! My house got a partial flip! (Yes, you read that correctly....if you know The Burtons..we don't do home improvements. giggle)

We have lived in this house for 15+ years and for 12 years, I have prayed for new carpet. We have never really had the extra moola in our budget to make any household improvements, especially new carpet. But, oh, the power of prayer....while I was at the beach, someone told Jim they were going to bless us with new carpet!! (The Lord is good, isn't He??). The carpet was scheduled to arrive while I was out of town and so Jim decided he was going to paint the paneling in our den as a HUGE surprise for me. (My man hates...and I mean HATES to paint!). Jim knew that I have wanted to paint the den for 15+ years too. I know this was a complete labor of love on Jim's part!! Bless his heart...4 coats of paint later, the den is white and bright! No more 70's paneling over here. :)

All I can say is "Praise The Lord" and my house looks sooo beautiful!!! Thank you to those who blessed Jim and I with this amazing gift of new carpet. You will never know how grateful we are for this amazing gift. :)

Check out Jim's Blog for his take on the "flip"!

Tats, Purple Pinky and vacation

So much to blog about and so little time. Guess I'll have to be brief (yeah, right!).

Well, the summer Bible Study at Tantrum Tattoo Shop ended Monday night..but it was a great six weeks! Thanks again Emmy for letting us invade your shop on your day off to study The Word and reach out to women! The Lord was great to us and we had around 34 women in and out of the doors over the course of 6 weeks. Here is a 'crazy' pic. from Monday Night (we were missing about 10 women!!! Where were you all??)

Pray for Jennifer. She is a friend of mine (only 33) and she would have been in the above pic if she was not in the hospital. She was just diagnosed with cancer two weeks ago. At CCF, we "girls" started a "Purple Pinky Prayer Partners" for Jenny. We are painting one of our pinky fingernails purple (yes..the best color ever, right Jennifer?) as an outward sign that we are praying for Jennifer and her family!

Lastly, here are some pics from our mini-vacation (with my man last week) to Carolina Beach and Wilmington, NC!

This is the 2nd best place on earth (next to Maggie Moos, of course)

Oh, Taste and see that The Lord is good....is that taken out of context?

Support C28

Wow! Our last night of 'vacation' landed us at Short Pump Mall. (Soon I'll be posting more and some pics from our travels to Carolina Beach and Wilmington...and oh, yeah Maggie MOOS!!!).

Back to the here and now:Recently I heard about a new Christian apparel store that had opened in SPM. Tonight, we were able to check it out, first hand.

Let me tell you it was GREAT!! I was so impressed with this place. Very creative designs (not cheesy T-shirt graphics...know what I mean??!!). The walls were covered with Scriptures, Christian music and CD's playing, a Bible on the "check out" counter and get this: They ask you for prayer request when you pay and then they even pray with you IN THE STORE!!!

Be sure to check this place out! Here is their national web site: http://www.c28.com/

I wish I could have bought a few T-shirts ...maybe next time (gift card for Cmas??? SURE!). Anyway, here is what I would have bought (w/ shirt description from their website).

I use to always quote this to my girls! "Go to the ant!!" ha ha

At first glance, this may seem like just a pattern design; however, with a closer look you will see the classic NOTW logo morphing into the shape of an ant! Above this clever artwork is a call to action, BE THE ANT! As God says through His word, do not be lazy, but work diligently like the ant! The scripture on the back come from Proverbs 6:6-11.

So often we look down on ourselves. We think we're not good enough, pretty enough, or smart enough, and tend to fall into self-pity. We are always looking for man's approval, but in God's eyes, we are perfect, through Christ! And so the Psalm 42:5-6 was used as inspiration for this shirt. This psalm is a prayer about putting your hope in God and realizing we are perfect just the way God' made us! The wings on the back of the shirt symbolize this hope and how we can be lifted up by keeping this hope in mind.
"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you." - Psalm 42:5-6

I'll leave you with some pics Jordyn took on her celly tonight while we were at the best place on earth...that's right Maggie Moos (thank you Cheryl for my gift card!!) More vacation pics coming soon!

(yes, he's making those faces again! ha ha)

Celebrate good times, come on!

Drivers beware...we have yet another teen driver on the road as of 2:48pm this afternoon!! What better way to celebrate passing her learner's test (on the first try) than a frozen Mocha Frap at Starbucks!!!

VOV it!! (Venting over Venti)

Do you ever just feeling like venting? I had one of those moments recently. Just needed to “let it all out”. I was drinking a nice, large cup of java while feeling the need to vent this afternoon. As I glanced at my coffee mug it hit me. I was having a “VOV” session. VOV? Beck’s newest term. What is VOV? Glad you asked. In my world it stands for Venting over Venti! (I just cracked myself up sometimes!). Then I remembered Psalms 142:1&2 where David was “venting” to The Lord.

1 I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.

The Lord is so faithful to listen to us! Next time you need to let it all out, grab a cup of coffee (venti of course) and go to the Lord for a little “VOV”.

venti - noun (context, mostly, US) A cup of coffee larger than grande, usually 20 ounces.

My new grand-puppy!!!! SQUEALLLLL!!!!

Oh, I wish I could kidnap my grand-pup (Amanda's new Yorkie!). Here's a few picks of precious little "Venti" (as I called her....see the first pic and you'll know why!!)

Say What? She's 21!!!

Yep......one of my baby girls is 21!! Amanda (a.k.a. the whirlwind) arrived from Texas yesterday and we had the pleasure of celebrating with her tonight!! Love you "Nananda"!!!

Amanda's favorite gift (from Jordy) a New Kids on The Block CD!

She has a way of cracking us up!!

Manda and Bubs!


Yes, Jord is offically taller than Amanda (and Beck!)

Yikes! I am the mother of a 21 y.o.

Pop, Nan and "Scoo-boo". Nan and Pop ROCK!

Hail, Hail the gangs all here!

Horsin' Around

For years, Jim and I have said that our family/ministry theme song is "Great Adventure" Steven Curtis Chapman. Well, this summer...that song has a whole new meaning!!!

Especially the chorus:

Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze. Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace. Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown. This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure. Come on get ready for the ride of your life. Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind. And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored. This is what we were created for

( Thanks to D & S for this opportunity.)

Gettin' Ready.......

Please be in prayer for our upcoming Bible Study:

Thankful Thursdays Burton-style

When words are many, sin is not absent,but he who holds his tongue is wise. Proverbs 10:19

Thankful Thursday I have seen the term "Thankful Thursday" on blogs in a cute little icon form. Honestly, I have no clue what the blog world's definition of Thankful Thursday or what you are suppose to do, much less type. I just remember the phrase.

Recently I was doing some research for an upcoming Women's Bible Study. The topic I was studying was the "tongue". You know...our speech. It made me think and examine the words that come out of my mouth. I realized through examining my heart (and my mouth) that there is a lot of room inside these pearly whites for improvement. As I pondered my need to be more positive and thankful, I wondered "how?". What exactly should I do? Well, duh! Of course I need to PRAY! Yes, as I continued to reflect on things I say in any given day, I realized I would need to take action.

Being the opinionated and far from shy woman that I am, this task would require some serious action: prayer and fasting to tame this tongue. Then I had an "AHA!" moment.... instead of a food fast..what about a word fast. Hmm...for me that is way more challenging than a food fast. giggle. Thus "Thankful Thursdays" evolved in my household today.

What is exactly is "Thankful Thursdays" according to The Burtons? It is a day that we give more Thanks to God for all he had done for us. We take time to notice the small (and large) blessings around us and thank Him. We try and think before we speak and when we do, we try to speak words that give encouragement, words that see the best in people. More positive, edifying speech.

As I type this it is 12:19am. My first official "Thankful Thursday" has come and gone. Wow! I have a ways to go with taming my tongue, but Thank The Lord...nothing is impossible for Him.

Randomness from the Weekend

Happy Birthday Pop! I love you!!!


Getting ready for our church's luau night (Yes, my man has a habit of trying to annoy me by flaring his nostrils in pictures!)


Our little "Weedle-pova"